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Origin and history of crush

crush(v.)

mid-14c., "smash, shatter, break into fragments or small particles; force down and bruise by heavy weight," also figuratively, "overpower, subdue," from Old French cruissir (Modern French écraser), variant of croissir "to gnash (teeth), crash, smash, break," which is perhaps from Frankish *krostjan "to gnash" (cognates: Gothic kriustan, Old Swedish krysta "to gnash").

Figurative sense of "to humiliate, demoralize" is by c. 1600. Related: Crushed; crushing; crusher. Italian crosciare, Catalan cruxir, Spanish crujir "to crack, creak" are Germanic loan-words.

crush(n.)

1590s, "act of crushing, a violent collision or rushing together," from crush (v.). Meaning "thick crowd" is from 1806. Sense of "person one is infatuated with" is first recorded 1884, U.S. slang; to have a crush on (someone) is by 1903.

also from 1590s

Entries linking to crush

masher(n.)

c. 1500, "thing that mashes," agent noun from mash (v.). The meaning "would-be lady-killer, one whose dress or manners are such as to impress strongly the fancy of susceptible young women" is by 1875, American English, perhaps by 1860, probably from mash (v.) on the notion either of "pressing one's attentions" or "crushing someone else's emotions."

Compare crush (n.) and see mash (n.2) for more.

He was, to use a Western expression, a 'regular heart-smasher among the women;' and it may not be improper to state, just here, that no one had a more exalted opinion of his capabilities in that line than the aforesaid 'Jo' himself. [Harper's New Monthly Magazine, March 1861]
He had a weakness to be considered a regular masher of female hearts and a very wicked young man with the fair sex generally, but there was not a well-authenticated instance of his ever having broken a heart in his life, nor likely to be one. [Gilbert A. Pierce, "Zachariah, The Congressman," Chicago, 1880]
smash(v.)

1759, transitive, "break to pieces," earlier "kick downstairs" (c. 1700), probably of imitative origin (compare smack (v.), mash (v.), crush (v.)). The intransitive meaning "act with crushing force" is from 1813; the transitive sense of "strike violently" is from 1835. Tennis sense is from 1882. Smash-and-grab (adj.) as a type of burglary or robbery is attested from 1927.

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    jam
    "to press tightly" (trans.), 1719; "to become wedged" (intrans.), 1706, of unknown origin, perhaps a variant of Middle English cham "to bite upon something; gnash the teeth" (late 14c.; see champ (v.)). Of a malfunction in the moving parts of machinery by 1851. Sense of "cause in
    press
    c. 1300, presse, "a crowd, throng, company; crowding and jostling of a throng; a massing together," from Old French presse (n.) "a throng, a crush, a crowd; wine or cheese press" (11c.), from Latin pressare (see press (v.1)). Late Old English had press in the sense of "clothes pr
    oppress
    late 14c., oppressen, "to press unduly upon or against, overburden, weigh down," also figuratively, "overwhelm overpower" (of sickness, grief, etc.); also "burden with cruel, unjust, or unreasonable restraints, treat with injustice or undue severity, keep down by an unjust exerci
    squash
    "to crush, squeeze," early 14c., squachen, from Old French esquacher, variant of esquasser, escasser, escachier "to crush...shatter, destroy, break," from Vulgar Latin *exquassare, from Latin ex "out" (see ex-) + quassare "to shatter" (see quash "to crush...
    squat
    mid-14c., squatten, "to crush, flatten" (a sense now obsolete); early 15c., "crouch on the heels," from Old French esquatir..., escatir "compress, press down, lay flat, crush," from es- "out" (see ex-) + Old French quatir "press down, flatten," from...
    oppressive
    oppressivus, from oppress-, past participle stem of opprimere "press against, press together, press down;" figuratively "crush...
    contusion
    battering," in medical language, "a bruise," noun of action from past-participle stem of contundere "to beat, bruise, grind, crush...
    eliminate
    1560s, "to thrust out, remove, throw out of doors," from Latin eliminatus, past participle of eliminare "thrust out of doors, expel," from ex limine "off the threshold," from ex "off, out" (see ex-) + limine, ablative of limen "threshold" (see limit (n.)). Used literally at first
    chagrin
    1650s, "melancholy," from French chagrin "melancholy, anxiety, vexation" (14c.), from Old North French chagreiner or Angevin dialect chagraigner "sadden," which is of unknown origin, perhaps [Gamillscheg] from Old French graignier "grieve over, be angry," from graigne "sadness, r
    wring
    Old English wringan "press, strain, wring, twist" (class III strong verb; past tense wrang, past participle wrungen), from Proto-Germanic *wreng- (source also of Old English wringen "to wring, press out," Old Frisian wringa, Middle Dutch wringhen, Dutch wringen "to wring," Old Hi

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